Hope Heals: Women in leadership

By Mallory Stiles
Editor in Chief

It is no secret there are a completely different set of challenges for a leader based on gender, but what are they, and is one set maybe more challenging than the other?

Let’s do some digging.

I work in a male-dominated industry – more specifically a General Motors parts warehouse – so I chose to ask one male leader and one female leader what their greatest challenge is and why.

Both leaders shall remain anonymous for their own protection, but their answers were very interesting and definitely provide some food for thought.

ANONYMOUS MALE LEADER: “I would say the greatest challenge is getting people to do their jobs. It’s also mentally draining to continuously emotionally regulate people.”

 ANONYMOUS FEMALE LEADER: “The hardest thing is being bold and speaking out when something is not right or not fair.”

Notice how the male leader immediately thinks of the challenges of the actual job while the woman’s first thought is the challenges she faces in HOW she does the job.

Woman everywhere have finally risen in the ranks of American enterprise, but what do we do now that we are here?

I kept the female leader talking for as long as I could but the interview was at the end of her 12-hour shift, so I knew I only had minutes to soak up every bit of wisdom she had to offer.

She said it is all about how one carries one’s self.

Women are historically not used to being the boss, but times are changing. We have a female vice president of the United States. It’s time we start establishing a protocol for all the other young women considering a leadership role.

Previous generations have tilled the field of feminism and, finally, it’s harvest time.

Our mothers and grandmothers asked for respect and equality, but GM’s anonymous female leader said she prefers a different approach.

“You have to demand respect from any room you walk into,” she said.

Until men feel the need to prove themselves in every scenario involving the opposite sex, so much so that it becomes a major concern, I would say we know which gender has the greater set of challenges.